Kicking Goals at Craig Johnston Cup

On a bright, sunny day, 300 school students from the Lake Macquarie District in the NSW Hunter Valley region got to battle it out for the coveted Craig Johnston Cup, all while being watched over by one of the greats of the game.

Kennards Hire at the Craig Johnston Cup

Now in its third year, the six-a-side tournament is named after Football legend, Craig Johnston. Craig, who grew up in the Lake Macquarie area, was one of the first Australians to have a long and successful career in the English Premier League, playing 267 games, including 190 with Liverpool.

“The students participated as either players, referees or officials, collating statistics and analysing data from both the games and skills clinic,” explained key organiser Richie Williams, Performance Improvement Specialist with P.R.I.D.E. Business Coaching.

“Each team competed in six games with a seventh game to decide the tournament cup winner, which this year was West Wallsend” said Richie. “The players also attended a 30 minute skills clinic during their rounds.”

Kennards Hire Lambton became involved in the event by donating two large marquees. Lightweight, strong, simple to assemble and easy to relocate as needed, the marquees were utilised at the marshalling area for the officials and referees as well as the presentation area.

Darren Pring, Branch Manager, Kennards Hire Lambton said he was excited to be involved in such a great event. “As a family owned company being involvement in community and school events is very important to Kennards Hire. When we were contacted by Richie we were only too happy to help in any way we could.”

“We required the marquees at very short notice,” said Richie, “Darren and the team at Kennards Hire were extremely supportive and helpful. They delivered the marquees where we needed them and picked them up straight after the event.

“It’s great that the local branch was so enthusiastic about being involved. We look forward to working with Kennards Hire again at next year’s event,” added Richie.

The Craig Johnston Cup